Nasiruddin Shah

Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions to Indian cinema.

Early life

Naseeruddin Shah was born on 20 July 1950 in Barabanki town, Uttar Pradesh, into a Nawab family.

Shah did his schooling at St. Anselm's Ajmer and St Joseph's College, Nainital. He graduated in arts from Aligarh Muslim University in 1971 and attended National School of Drama in Delhi.

His elder brother, Lt. General Zameerud-din Shah (Retd.) PVSM, SM, VSM, was Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.

Career

Shah has acted in movies such as '' Nishant'', '' Aakrosh'', '' Sparsh'', ''Mirch Masala'', ''Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai'', ''Trikal'', ''Bhavni Bhavai'', '' Junoon'', ''Mandi'', ''Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!'', ''Ardh Satya'', '' Katha'', and ''Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro''. He made his debut with a small role in film Aman (1967) starring Rajendra Kumar and Saira Banu.

Shah became active in mainstream Bollywood cinema with the 1980 film '' Hum Paanch''. In 1982, he acted in the film ''Dil Aakhir Dil Hai'' directed by Ismail Shroff, opposite Rakhee. One of his most important films, '' Masoom'', was released in 1983 and was shot at St Joseph's College, Nainital. His next major success in mainstream films was the 1986 multi-star film ''Karma'' where he acted alongside veteran Dilip Kumar. Starring roles for films such as ''Ijaazat'' (1987), ''Jalwa'' (1988) and ''Hero Hiralal'' (1989) followed. In 1988, he played opposite his wife Ratna Pathak as Inspector Ghote, the fictional detective of H. R. F. Keating's novels in the Merchant Ivory English language film '' The Perfect Murder''. He acted with Aditya Pancholi in films like '' Maalamaal'' (1988) and ''Game'' (1993).

He has acted in several multi-star Bollywood films as well, such as ''Ghulami'' (1985), ''Tridev'' (1989) and ''Vishwatma'' (1992). In 1994, he acted as the villain in ''Mohra'', his 100th film as an actor. He forayed into Malayalam cinema the same year, through T. V. Chandran's drama ''Ponthan Mada''. The film portrayed the irrational bonding of a feudal serf (played by Mammootty) and a colonial landlord (played by Shah). He strongly believed that the distinction between art and commercial films had largely reduced, especially with the directors of the former also making commercial films. In 2000, Shah played Mahatma Gandhi in Kamal Haasan's ''Hey Ram'' which focused on the assassination of Gandhi from the assailant's point of view.

Shah played Mohit, the drunken coach to a deaf and mute boy in ''Iqbal''. Shah was noted for his roles in the 1999 Aamir Khan-starrer ''Sarfarosh'', where he played Gulfam Hassan – a ''ghazal'' singer-cum-terrorist mastermind — and in Neeraj Pandey's ''A Wednesday'' (2008).

Shah has also starred in international projects, such as ''Monsoon Wedding'' in 2001 and a Hollywood adaptation of ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' in 2003 (co-starring Sean Connery), where he played Captain Nemo. His portrayal of Nemo was very close to the design of the graphic novel, although his Nemo was far less manic. He worked in Vishal Bhardwaj's Indian adaptation of Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'', titled ''Maqbool'', in 2003, and Rajiv Rai's ''Asambhav'' opposite Arjun Rampal and Priyanka Chopra in 2004. He then went on to work in ''The Great New Wonderful'' (2005). Shah played a pivotal role in ''Today's Special'', Aasif Mandvi's 2009 independent comedy film. In 2011, Shah was seen in ''The Dirty Picture''. He acted in Anup Kurian's ''The Blueberry Hunt'', playing a recluse growing marijuana in his forest retreat, and in ''Waiting'', starring opposite Kalki Koechlin, both of which were released in 2016.

Shah made his Pakistani film debut in ''Khuda Ke Liye'' by Shoaib Mansoor, where he played a short cameo. His second Pakistani film ''Zinda Bhaag'' was selected as the country's official entry to the 86th Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film award.

As a director

Shah has performed with his theatre troupe at places such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Lahore. He has directed plays written by Lavender Kumar, Ismat Chughtai and Saadat Hasan Manto.

His directorial debut in movies, ''Yun Hota To Kya Hota'', was released in 2006. It stars several established actors such as Konkona Sen Sharma, Paresh Rawal, Irrfan Khan, then-newcomer Ayesha Takia, his son Imaad Shah and his old friend Ravi Baswani.

He has directed several plays written by eminent people such as Saadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai and Lavendar Kumar.

Other media and art forms

In 1977, Shah, Tom Alter and Benjamin Gilani formed a theatre group called Motley Productions. Their first play was Samuel Beckett's '' Waiting for Godot'', which was staged at the Prithvi Theatre on 29 July 1979.

In 1988, he acted in the eponymous television series based on the life and times of Mirza Ghalib, directed by Gulzar and telecast on DD National.

In 1989, he acted as the Maratha King Shivaji in another eponymous television series ''Bharat Ek Khoj'' based on Jawaharlal Nehru's book ''The Discovery of India''.

In mid 1990s, Shah also hosted some episodes of science magazine programme ''Turning Point''.

In 1999, he acted as a special agent in the TV series ''Tarkash'' on Zee TV. He played a retired agent haunted by nightmares who is re-inducted as he apparently knows something about a dreaded terrorist somehow connected with his past. He played the villain with the dual identity of a ghazal singer and a Pakistani spy who supports terrorism in India in ''Sarfarosh'' (1999). He was the first of several celebrity actors, who played narrator in the popular audiobook series for kids ''Karadi Tales''. He along with wife Ratna was the narrator in the film ''Paheli'' — the Indian entry to the 2006 Academy Awards.

In 2017, Shah returned to film, starring in Shakespearean adaption The Hungry, screened under special presentations at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017.

Personal life

Shah was married to Manara Sikri and had a daughter, Heeba, with her. In the 1970s, Shah met and fell in love with Ratna Pathak, the daughter of Dina Pathak, a well-respected character actress. During the 70s and 80s they co-starred in several films, including ''Mirch Masala'' and ''The Perfect Murder''. They were in a live-in relationship for many years, while Shah put together the '' mehr'' required to divorce Manara. Shah and Pathak were finally married in 1982. Manara died the same year due to unknown reasons. By his second marriage, Shah has two sons, Imaad and Vivaan, both of whom are actors. The couple lives in Mumbai with Heeba, Imaad and Vivaan.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Civilian Awards

* 1987 — Padma Shri — India's fourth highest civilian award.
* 2003 — Padma Bhushan — India's third highest civilian award.

Film awards

Other awards

* 2000: Won: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Autobiography

In an interview with ''HT Brunch'', Shah speaks about having thought about an autobiography for almost 10 years. He penned down his thoughts occasionally during this period until he finally came up with 100-odd pages. What had started as an amusing pastime had clearly grown into something much deeper. He then presented the unfinished version to his friend, historian Ramchandra Guha, who encouraged Shah to complete it and send it to a publication house. Shah's memoir is titled ''And Then One Day'', and was published by Hamish Hamilton.

Controversies

Criticising veterans

Naseeruddin has been frequently involved in controversy with his criticism of senior actors like Dilip Kumar, fellow actors like Anupam Kher, Amitabh Bachchan, juniors like Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, cricketer Virat Kohli and politician and Prime minister Narendra Modi. Shah once said that people watching movies of Shahrukh and Salman should not watch his movies. In July 2016, Shah blamed Rajesh Khanna for mediocrity in movies with his poor acting during the 1970s. He also stated that Khanna was not an alert person whom he had met. However, later after criticism from several people in the Bollywood fraternity including Khanna's daughter Twinkle, Naseeruddin apologized about his views. On 18 December 2018, he sparked a controversy by calling Virat Kohli as the worst behaved cricketer in the world.

Criticized by Nationalist media

Shah was criticized by ationalist mediaafter he reacted to an incident of communal violence in December 2018. He stated that he felt unsafe in current day India and was worried about the safety of his children if they were caught in a mob violence situation.

Verbal spat with Anupam Kher

In January 2020, Shah was targeted by media after criticizing his co-actor colleague Anupam Kher for his views supporting the Indian government’s Citizenship Amendment Act, calling him a clown and sycophant.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Naseeruddin
1950 births
Living people
Naseeruddin Shah
People from Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh
Indian male film actors
Indian expatriate male actors in Pakistan
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts
Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Filmfare Awards winners
Screen Awards winners
Best Supporting Actor National Film Award winners
Aligarh Muslim University alumni
National School of Drama alumni
Film and Television Institute of India alumni
Male actors from Mumbai
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
Indian drama teachers
People from Barabanki district
Best Actor National Film Award winners
Male actors in Gujarati-language films
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
International Indian Film Academy Awards winners
Indian male stage actors
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors